1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device useful for exercising a person""s facial muscles to improve muscle tone and enhance elasticity of the facial muscles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known of that as a person ages the facial muscles of an individual lose tone and elasticity and tend to sag. The loss of tone and elasticity of the facial muscles creates wrinkles and jowls on a person""s face. This deterioration in facial muscle tone and elasticity very significantly detracts from the person""s appearance and can cause loss of self esteem and even psychological depression.
To combat this effect of aging it is helpful to exercise the facial muscles in a way that prevents their loss of tone and elasticity. The normal facial movements of a person in speaking, chewing, smiling, frowning, and so forth do not achieve the required exercising of the correct muscles to a sufficient degree.
Various devices have been developed for the purpose of aiding a person in exercising the facial muscles to retain elasticity and prevent loss of muscle tone. These devices are held within the lips of a person""s mouth and operated by pursing the lips together to overcome a spring bias. Conventional devices of this type are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,671,260; 5,919,116; 5,556,357; 3,938,508; 3,528,655; 4,280,696; 4,196,902; Des. 397,173; and PCT/US98/06750. However, the conventional devices which have been developed for this purpose are uncomfortable to use and difficult to operate. As a consequence, while a person may use these conventional devices for a short time, they are very often set aside completely or utilized only sporadically.
The present invention involves a facial muscle exercising device that differs significantly in construction from conventional devices designed for the same purpose. The facial muscle exercising device of the present invention is comprised of a pair of end pieces, a pair of rigid tubes, and a coil spring. Unlike the devices of conventional systems, the end pieces of the facial muscle exercising device of the present invention have curved, convex outwardly facing opposing end sides that face away from each other, and opposing, longitudinally aligned sockets that face toward each other. The pair of rigid tubes includes a narrower diameter inner tube and a hollow, annular outer tube that receives the inner tube therewithin in coaxial, telescopic engagement therewith. The inner tube is seated in the socket of one of the end pieces and the outer tube is seated in the socket of the other of the end pieces. The coil spring is disposed in coaxial arrangement with the telescopically engaged tubes. The opposing ends of the coil spring bear against the end pieces to bias them apart from each other.
Due to its convex outwardly facing end surfaces, the facial muscle exercising device of the invention is far more comfortable to operate. The convex surfaces conform to the concave corners of the mouth where a person""s lips meet as those corners are drawn toward each other in the pursing movements of the lips. Consequently, a user is not nearly so likely to tire of using the facial muscle exercising device of the invention as is the case with conventional prior devices.
Also, the arc of contact between the convex surfaces of the lip engaging pieces of the device of the invention is much greater than in conventional facial muscle exercising devices. For example, the arc of contact of the lip engaging pieces in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,260 is only about 100 degrees. This limited arc of contact creates a large force concentrations on the users lips. Indeed, these force concentrations are large enough to her to the users lips, and even to crack them. By contrast, the outwardly, convex curved portion of each of the lip engaging pieces of the present invention extends all were on arc of at least 180 degrees up to about 250 degrees. In the preferred embodiment the arc of engagement is about 240 degrees. By spreading the force of the coil spring over a much larger arc in the lip engaging pieces of the present invention, force concentrations are greatly reduced and the device is much more comfortable to the user.
In one a broad aspect the present invention may be considered to be a facial muscle exercising apparatus comprising: a pair of opposing lip-engaging pieces having mutually facing inner surfaces and opposing convex outwardly curved outer surfaces, a pair of coaxial telescoping tubes each one of which is secured to a separate one of the inner surfaces of the pair of lip-engaging pieces, and a coil spring coaxially engaged relative to the telescoping tubes for compression between the inner surfaces of the end pieces to bias the end pieces apart from each other.
Preferably, longitudinally aligned concave grooves are defined in the concave outwardly curved outer surfaces of the lip-engaging pieces to receive the lips of a user at the corners of a user""s mouth where the lips meet. This groove provides a seat for the users lips and helps keep the device from popping out of the users mouth.
Preferably also a guide passageway is defined through each of the lip-engaging pieces. These guide passageways are parallel to the alignment of the coaxial tubes. The passageway through one of the lip-engaging pieces has openings at the inner and outer surfaces thereof. The guide passageway opening at the inner surface is of reduced cross-sectional area from the opening at the outer surface. An internal abutment ledge directed toward the outwardly facing surface is thereby defined within the structure of this lip-engaging piece.
The device is further comprised of a guide member having a longitudinally elongated shank with opposing ends. The guide member is received within the guide passageways. The shank of the guide member has an enlarged lug at one of its ends, specifically the end which is disposed outboard from the abutment ledge defined in the lip-engaging piece in which the abutment ledge is formed. The other of the lip-engaging pieces has a releaseable locking member for engaging the other end of the guide member shank at a selected location along the length of the other end of the guide member shank.
The coil spring may be disposed externally about the telescoping tubes. Alternatively, the coil spring may be disposed coaxially within the surrounding confines of the telescoping tubes. In either arrangement, the ends of the coil spring bear against the inner surfaces of the two lip-engaging pieces either directly or through one or more spacer elements located between the spring and at least one of the lip-engaging pieces. Spacer elements can be used to adjust the force with which the lip-engaging pieces are biased apart by the coil spring.
The invention may be described with greater clarity and particularity by reference to the accompanying drawings.